Royal British Columbia Regiment

The Royal British Columbia Regiment is an armoured regiment of the BC Army, and is a unit of the Royal British Columbia Armoured Corps.

The HQ of the Royal BC Regiment is at the Beatty Street Armoury in Vancouver.

Some ranks in the Royal BC Regiment are different from those in other Army units. Specifically, in the RBCR a Private is called a Trooper (Tpr).

History
The Royal British Columbia Regiment originated on 12 October 1883 when the British Columbia Provisional Regiment of Garrison Artillery was formed. It was redesignated as the British Columbia Brigade of Garrison Artillery on 7 May 1886 and as the British Columbia Battalion of Garrison Artillery on 1 January 1893. On 1 August 1899 it was converted to a cavalry regiment and redesignated as the British Columbia Cavalry Regiment, and was bestowed the honour of the "Royal" designation by Queen Victoria on 1 May 1900. The Royal BC Cavalry regiment was finally given its current name in 1941 when it became part of the Royal BC Armoured Corps.

During the Second World War the RBCR was comprised of two tank and one light reconnaissance battalions, but after the 1959 rationalisation, which specified that each regiment of the BC Army would be made up of one active force and one Militia (reserve) battalions, 1st Battalion, as the active force component, remained a tank unit, and 3rd Battalion, which became the Militia component of the unit, remained a recce unit, whereas 2nd Battalion, which had been the other tank unit, was reduced to nil strength.

The Gulf War
1st Battalion RBCR was deployed to Saudi Arabia in September 1990 as part of Operation Hastings, BC's contribution to Operation Desert Storm.

Battle Honours

 * South Africa 1899-1900
 * First World War: Ypres 1915, '17; Ypres 1917; Festubert 1915; Mount Sorrel; Somme 1916, '18; Arras 1917, '18; Hill 70; Amiens; Hindenburg Line; Valenciennes; France and Flanders 1915-1918
 * Second World War: Falaise; The Scheldt; Rhineland; North-West Europe 1944-1945
 * Korea 1951-53
 * Operation Hastings 1990-91

Equipment

 * Mk. V Tank (1918-1927)
 * Vickers Medium Mk. II medium tank (1918-1927)
 * Carden Loyd tankette (1930-1941)
 * Renault R35 light infantry tank (1936-1942)
 * Cruiser Mk. I cruiser tank (1938-1942)
 * Tetrarch Mk. VII light tank (1938-1943)
 * Valentine II infantry tank (1940-1945)
 * Churchill heavy infantry tank (1941-1945)
 * Otter Mk. I light recce car (1942-1945)
 * M4A1 Sherman medium tank (1942-1945)
 * Crusader III cruiser tank (1942-1948)
 * Daimler Mk. I armoured car (1942-1961)
 * M4A3E8 Sherman medium tank (1943-1945)
 * Lynx Mk. II scout car (1943-1950)
 * Staghound Mk. I armoured car (1943-1951)
 * Humber Mk. III armoured car (1948-1964)
 * Centurion main battle tank (1948-1969)
 * M8 Greyhound armoured car (1950-1960)
 * Kiidaw-R armoured car (1959-1980)
 * Chieftain Mk. II main battle tank (1969-1976)
 * Chieftain Mk. II A main battle tank (1976-1981) - first upgrade, adding Thermal Observation & Gunnery Sight and other minor improvements
 * VBR armoured car (1980 to date)
 * Chieftain Mk. II B main battle tank (1981-1988) - second upgrade, adding Stillbrew armour
 * Tyee Mk. I main battle tank (1988-2010) - rebuilt and modernised Chieftain II B
 * Iitl'akdáa main battle tank (2010 to date) - Indian-made Arjun MBT

Regimental Alliances

 * Australia 1st/15th Royal New South Wales Lancers
 * Canada Royal Canadian Regiment
 * Rhodesia Rhodesian Armoured Regiment
 * United Kingdom 1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards